Riot police block Lili supporters

140305. Cape Town. Suspended councillor Andile Lili(centre) addressing a crowd of protesters at Cape Town station. Police blocked a group of approx 50 protesters to enter the station. Protesters were planning to march to the High court in support of Andile Lili. Picture Henk Kruger/Cape Argus

Cape Town -

Former ANC ward councillor Andile Lili is furious that police stopped his supporters from picketing outside the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Lili is seeking leave to appeal against a November court ruling which upheld his expulsion from the City of Cape Town. The court will hand down a decision on Thursday.

About 80 supporters of the Ses’khona Peoples Movement, the grouping formed by Lili and fellow expelled councillor Loyiso Nkohla, were blocked by riot police at Cape Town train station on Wednesday.

“We are disappointed that the police have blocked our supporters,” Lili said.

“We don’t have resources so our members are forced to use the trains. When we have used taxis in the past, our supporters managed to gather in the CBD without the police blocking them. We will have to restrategise to see how we can get our supporters to court on Friday.”

Last week, hundreds of Ses’khona marchers clashed with police in the city centre. This followed a chaotic protest in October when marchers looted stalls and stores in the city centre.

The city is pursuing civil cases against Lili and Nkohla to retrieve money for property that was damaged during October’s march.

Last March, the city’s multiparty disciplinary committee expelled Lili from the council. It found that he had told Khayelitsha resident Bongiwe Gugushe to move out of her home in 2011. She was pregnant at the time, leading Lili to say that she would “have to give birth in a drain or bush”. He was also found guilty of having a hand in the illegal demolition of other homes.

Lili challenged the expulsion in the high court in August. His lawyer, Thabani Masuku, argued Lili had not had a fair hearing. He also argued that the section of the Municipal Systems Act that gave Local Government MEC Anton Bredell the power to expel Lili was unconstitutional. Lili and Nkohla are also challenging their expulsion from the ANC via the party’s internal appeals process.

At the time of going to press police had not responded to a request for comment on why they blocked Lili’s supporters.